1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunications apparatus and method. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for delivering information to mobile users in a telecommunications system.
2. Description of Related Art
In conventional telecommunications, a given user is associated with a given telecommunications terminal (e.g. a conventional telephone, or a computer with a modem, or a facsimile unit). However, more recently, users have become mobile. In addition to mobile telephones (for example digital cellular telephones such as those conforming to the GSM standard) other types of portable terminal include pagers (either tone pagers or message pagers which can receive short textual messages and display them); so called xe2x80x9cpersonal digital assistantsxe2x80x9d (PDA""s) and portable facsimile or computer units adapted to communicate via cellular networks using dedicated modems. Users may also move to and from fixed terminals.
At the same time, the volume and types of formats of information which can be transmitted is increasing, and new, so called xe2x80x9cmulti-mediaxe2x80x9d formats, consisting of single sets of information presented in multiple media (such as for example image, text and audio files) are entering use.
The telecommunications channels through which information is delivered comprise channels of varying bandwidth, including optical fibre links; coaxial copper links; conventional subscriber telephone lines; infra-red local area networks; and radio frequency channels. Of these, radio frequency channels are used for mobile communications. However, radio frequency channels which are used in mobile communications generally have available the lowest bandwidth due to demands on the RF spectrum and to the channel conditions within the RF spectrum. Thus the amount of information which a mobile user can currently receive and select from is relatively limited.
European patent application EP-A-0718784 describes a system for retrieving information based on a user-defined profile. A server acting on behalf of the client identifies information on the basis of the user-defined profile, to generate a personalised newspaper which is delivered to the user. This provides for an automatic sorting of the large volume of data available on the World Wide Web to generate a subset of the information available which is tailored to a users specific interest. However, the system is only used for providing a personalised newspaper delivered in electronic form to a static user.
International patent publication No WO94/30023 describes a GSM telecommunications system whereby data records may be downloaded onto subscriber identity modules in the system by broadcasting the data to a subscriber. The distribution of messages to subscriber identity modules in a specific area is possible, for example for advertising purposes. However, only a limited amount of data can be broadcast in such a manner for storage on the subscriber identity modules. Furthermore, the information available to the user at any one time is available only from one source, for example a data server is connected to the local telephone exchange.
International patent publication No W093/01665 describes a telecommunications system in which mobile users are able to receive localised information data from base stations in the system. Each base station is provided with a localised information database, containing information pertaining to the local area, which can be received by a mobile user being served by the base station on request. The user is able to download selected portions of the information contained in the localised information database by stating selections on a mobile terminal. However, again the amount of information available to the user is limited to that stored in the localised information database. Furthermore, all mobile users in a cell receive the same information, and the information is localised only to the extent that the base stations are separated.
International patent publication no. WO96/07110 describes a navigation information system whereby route guidance information, or possibly other locality-dependent information, may be provided to a user of a cellular telephone network. The user, on requesting service, identifies a destination, which a server specifically allocated to that user uses to formulate a route. As the user travels along the route, the cellular telephone of the users automatically signals tracking information to the server as the user travels. When the user""s position falls within predefined xe2x80x9coverlay areasxe2x80x9d, messages direct from the user along the route are automatically generated and transmitted the cellular telephone of the user. Whilst this document briefly describes providing other locality-dependent information, such as information about local facilities, tourist attractions, weather forecasts, public transport information, etc, the means of presentation of the information to the user is inconvenient, insofar as the amount of information presented, if a large variety of information were included, would be excessive.
Our earlier international application PCT/GB96/00252, published Aug. 15, 1996, describes a multimedia telecommunications system employing reconfigurable agents. Aspects of this document are incorporated by reference herein.
Our earlier international application PCT/GB97/00890, published Oct. 9, 1997, describes a telecommunication system in which a user is tracked, and the identity of a terminal which he may at any time be using is stored. The capabilities (i.e. formats in which signals can be accepted and/or output) of terminal equipment in the vicinity of the user is stored. Therefore, rather than attempting (unsuccessfully) to deliver a high bandwidth signal to a low bandwidth mobile terminal, the system directs the signal to a nearby terminal which can support a better representation of the signal. The nearby terminal may accept and output the signal in its original form, or the network may convert the signal to a different format which can be accepted by the nearby terminal.
One aspect of the present invention provides a method of selecting information sources from which information is provided to users via a telecommunications system, said method comprising:
tracking the location of a user in the system by receipt of tracking information for said user;
accessing location data indicating localities in which information from the respective sources is deemed to be relevant;
generating a shortlist of information sources for said user on the basis of said tracking information and said location data; and
transmitting said shortlist to a terminal associated with said user so as to allow said user to select an information source of interest and thereby to access information from said source.
Thus, the invention provides a system in which information specific to the location of the user may be shortlisted, thereby filtering out information which relates to other locations. This method provides a basis for various improvements to known information distribution systems.
Individual sets of information sources may be selected, and dynamically altered, for each user in the system, thereby providing for personalised information distribution which alters the information delivered dynamically in accordance with the location of each of the users.
The individual set of information sources may be further filtered with user-specific preference information pre-stored for each user.
Dual filtering, both according to the location of the user and in accordance with pre-stored preference information, can be used to provide particularly useful shortlists whereby the level of expected interest to a user of the information sources selected can be maintained at a high level, whilst nevertheless deriving information from a wide variety of sources.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for collating information sources from which information is to be provided to users in a telecommunications system, said apparatus comprising:
location storage means arranged to store location data associated with said information sources held on one or more remote servers; and
location-dependent selection means arranged to select, from said information sources, a plurality of information sources on the basis of intersections between locations specified by users and said location data
Thus, the location data and selection functionality may be provided entirely separately from the information content, which may be stored on different servers. Integration with content from the World Wide Web is also possible, as the information sources may be held remotely.
Preference information may also be used to filter the information sources, and may also be held separately from the information content for security, for example on another server.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of distributing information to users in a telecommunications system, said method comprising:
tracking the location of a user by receipt of tracking information from a location updater part of said system;
selecting one or more information sources from which information is intended to be received in localities surrounding the location of the user, by means of said tracking information, in a location directory part of said system; and
transmitting summary information and a system address for each of the selected information sources to a terminal part of said system, to allow the user to receive said summary information and access said information source via said terminal part.
This allows a user to be alerted to the availability of information relevant to the user""s location and which may be of interest to the user, and to access the information if the summary indicates that it is in fact of interest.